I grew up playing NPL soccer as a goalkeeper, it was always my dream to play professionally.

In 2019 I sustained a shoulder injury playing Soccer which required surgery to fix. Six months after the initial surgery I broke my shoulder and re-injured the initial injury, this required another operation to fix, however this time it didn't go quite to plan. I got a nasty infection which resulted in a lot of time in hospital with IV antibiotics, and even after that I had a PICC line in at home for another eight weeks. All in all I spent about two years mostly in a huge sling, unable to use my arm properly and in this time had multiple attempts at re-stabilising my shoulder joint with surgery, none of which worked. After seven unsuccessful surgeries and damage caused by infection I was told a complete fusion of my shoulder joint was my only option. The operation permanently joins the upper arm bone to the shoulder blade. So surgery number eight was the fusion, sixteen large screws and two large plates were drilled into my shoulder. This has left me with a restricted range of motion and loss of muscle mass around my right shoulder.

Post Surgery number nine on my shoulder, (where they removed the temporary hardware after the bones had united) I convinced myself that my sporting days were done, if I couldn't be a goalkeeper anymore than I was done for good.

At one of my Physio appointments following the surgery, my physio asked me if id ever considered para sport. She explained to me that my impairment might make me eligible for a few sports. I got incredibly excited at the idea of playing competitive sport again and called Paralympics Australia that day. They asked me about my sporting history and impairment type and pointed me in the direction of para volleyball, I learnt how to play pretty much completely left handed and eventually captained the Australian women's sitting Volleyball team on two tours to China.

In march 2025 an opportunity arose to talent transfer into para Takewondo. I jumped at the opportunity as I had always loved combat sports, and thought maybe my soccer skills could be transferable to TKD. After three months of training with QAS para TKD coach Jess Borg, I jumped onto the mats for my first fight. From that point onwards I was hooked. I competed nationally against able body athletes for the remainder of 2025 and hadn't lost a fight. Training ramped up both at the TKD club and at the QAS gym and got me to a point where I was ready for my first international competition. In July 2026 I competed at the Korean open in Chuncheon, Korea. I made it to the semi final of my first international comp and was absolutely stoked. I came away with a Bronze medal and some really good learnings. I then competed in Pakistan in August and came away with another bronze. I have world champs in November 2026 followed by a heap of qualification events for the LA28 Paralympic Games.

I train 5 to 6 times a week as well as working 34 hour weeks as a youth worker. Ive been presented with an amazing opportunity to potentially go to a Paralympic Games, however the journey there is a tough one, especially considering all the costs involved in the sport and travelling. Any donations would go directly towards my journey for LA28 and would be so incredibly appreciated.